Parrots of War: Baghdad Edition

We parrot people in the First World have a difficult enough time caring for our companion parrots. We simply can not fathom the headaches and heartaches that come with caring for companion parrots in the Third War. Throw in complications resulting from living in what is essentially still a war zone, and then the trials and tribulations of parrot people in that environment becomes incomprehensible to us Westerners.

Add to the equation the fact that most of these parrots offered for sale are probably illegally wild caught. The odds of surviving the ordeal of being poached from their wild homes and smuggled into a depressing Third World bird market are overwhelmingly weighted against the parrots. Living with inadequate space. Inadequate food. Inadequate knowledge of parrot care. Literally dodging bombs and guns. We find ourselves alternately fascinated, shocked, and depressed. We hope, and trust, that somehow the parrots will not just survive, but thrive, and enjoy a modicum of good life.

Embed from Getty Images

Iraqi men sell African Grey parrots at the Al-Ghazel animal market in the capital, Baghdad, on February 19, 2016. The Al-Ghazel market is one of the largest animal markets in Iraq open for the trade of domestic animals.

Baghdad Bird Market, 2014, Video by Colton Lee

BAGHDAD. Reported by Associated Press, May 18, 2012 — Three bombs struck near simultaneously at a busy bird market in eastern Baghdad on Friday morning, killing five people and wounding dozens, police and health officials said. Two police officials said the bird market in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City was crowded with shoppers when the bombs exploded at around 7:00 a.m. At least 37 people were wounded in the blasts, officials said. A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. Every Friday, thousands of Iraqis converge on pet markets to shop and spend some relaxing family time during the Muslim weekend. The markets are one of the favorite targets for militants who seek to inflict large numbers of causalities.

Two Peas In A Pod. Our Congo and Timneh African Grey Parrots

Two Peas In A Pod! Our Congo African Grey Parrot Arua (left) and Timneh African Grey Parrot Tillie (right). Notice how much darker Tillie's body feathers are, whereas Arua has the notable red tail. Arua is significantly larger as well, although the size difference doesn't really come through in this video clip.

Why We Can Never Get Anything Done On The Puter

Our velcro parrot, our female Timneh African Grey parrot Tillie.

Secret Sex Lives of Parrots

Smokey is a male Congo African Grey parrot that we fostered for a time. He has one particular toy in his cage that he favors. On occasion in the middle of the night, in the pitch black dark, we would hear the bell on the toy start ringing. Now we know why.

We discovered that Smokey's amorousness (if that's a word) was not solely focused on his bell. Hands would suffice just as well.

And since we're on the topic of birds masturbating, we know your life is not complete if you've never seen a hummingbird masturbate. So here you go.

We are happy to report that Smokey's new mom hears that bell ringing on occasion in the middle of the night. Now she knows why!

The Parrot and The Dress

Well, we tried to avoid it. We really did. The controversy over ‪#‎TheDress‬ that is. But the power of social media pulled us in. So we're joining the controversy. Here it is: Is our Congo African Grey parrot Arua Red and Grey? Or is she Grey and Red? ‪#‎TheParrot‬

We're joining the controversy over #TheDress so here goes: Is our Congo African Grey #parrot Arua Red and Grey? Or is she Grey and Red? #TheParrot

A photo posted by The Zen Parrot (@the_zen_parrot) on Feb 28, 2015 at 1:07pm PST

Smokey Needs a New Seattle Area Home

We brought Smokey home to our flock in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. Smokey is a male Congo African Grey parrot believed to be about 25 years old. His previous owner was his third owner. Smokey was with his second owner for only six months. Smokey is a vocal fellow. He says hello, bye, come here, Hi Smoke. And he makes all the usual African Grey parrot noises such as the phone ringing. Apparently Smokey had plucking issues prior to his third home but according to his previous owner the plucking has stopped. We are told that Smokey has a preference for women.

Smokey seems to have a healthy appetite. As far as we can tell his diet seemed to revolve around Zupreem pellets, peanut butter cookies, and grapes. We don't know when he last had a nut to eat, but he loves almonds. After a day with our flock he hasn't yet ventured out of his cage, even though we leave the door open. He still needs time to adjust to his changed environment.

Anyone here in the Seattle area with African Grey parrot experience interested in adopting Smokey please contact Northwest Parrots Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity registered in the State of Washington.

How to Catch a Parrot

How to Catch a Parrot. In Three Easy Steps:

Take One Box

Add Bait

Introduce Parrot

Piece of Cake!

No Timneh African Grey parrots named Tillie were injured in the filming of this demonstration.

Illustrated Parrot Dictionary: Bliss

bliss

noun \ˈblis\

Definition of BLISS

1

: complete happiness

2

: paradise, heaven

Example of BLISS

Our Congo African Grey parrot Arua blissfully enjoying her bath

We're having a contest. Send us your photo submissions for our Illustrated Parrot Dictionary. If we like them we'll publish them here. And you'll receive a Parrot Cafe sweatshirt or tee shirt (sorry, size Large only) and a bag of our 100% Parrot Friendly coffee (our choice, but it's all good.) Email submissions to TheZenParrot@gmail.com. All submissions become property of The Zen Parrot. Drink more coffee! You can sleep when you're dead.

If At First You Don't Succeed

Sometimes, perseverance pays off. At least our Congo African Grey parrot Arua seems to believe so. If there's a will. There's a way. Or something like that.

Our Congo African Grey parrot Arua is the spokesparrot for TheParrotCafe.com's very own Red Tail Brand Ethiopia Sidamo coffee. Celebrating Ethiopia, the Birthplace of Coffee. An African parrot promoting an African coffee.

Arua is featured on our official Red Tail Brand coffee tee. Like it?
You can get one here: TheParrotCafe.com Red Tail Brand Coffee Tees

If Life Gives You Lemons, Just Make Your Own Beach

However erudite, well mannered, and communicative our parrot companions are with us, especially our African grey parrot companions, they are still wild animals at heart. It would be better for them and us if they were all living their wild lives out in the wilds of Africa, and wherever else they originated. Unfortunately for them and us they are not and never will. So we just have to do the best we can for them. Make their lives as companion parrots as fulfilling, safe, and carefree as it is possible to make. Then we just hope that in our next lives we don't come back as a parrot stuck in a cage!

There Was An Old Lady Who Lived In a Shoe

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. 

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do; 

She gave them some broth without any bread.

Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Eighteenth Century English Nursery Rhyme

Who You Calling An Old Lady?

Twenty-first Century Timneh African Grey Parrot Tillie

Out of Africa

Coming Soon

Featuring Our Congo African Grey Parrot Arua

We are followers of the Prophet Kaldi, the goat herder who lived in the ancient Kingdom of Kaffa, now Ethiopia. Kaldi discovered the Tree of Life, the Coffea arabica or coffee tree. Legend holds that Kaldi noticed that his goats became energized after eating a certain berry. Kaldi sampled the berries with the same effect. In his excitement he sought to have his discovery blessed by a Muslim holy man. Instead, the holy man tossed the beans into a fire in disgust. The subsequent enticing aroma caused Kaldi to create the world's first cup of coffee after recovering the burned beans and dropping them into hot water. To pay homage to Kaldi we've been searching for the perfect Ethiopian coffee. Not finding anything on the market we like we created our own brand! We have a distinct preference for Latin American coffees, but this Ethiopian coffee is the exception.

Coming Soon

RED TAIL BRAND

ETHIOPIAN COFFEE

So when you have your first cup of coffee of the day, bow to the East and praise the Prophet Kaldi, the discoverer of the Tree of Life! And while you're drinking your Ethiopian coffee, be sure to Wear Your Yellow!

Ethiopian Coffee FC Sports Club Jersey 2-Sided Tees by TheParrotCafe

Our Timneh African Grey Parrot Tillie: Study of a Parrot in Motion

Our female Timneh African Grey Parrot Tillie

Photos by Allyson Photography of Seattle

Sevita is Looking for a New Seattle Area Home

Sevita is an eight year old confirmed female Congo African Grey parrot looking for a new home in the Seattle area. Sevita has lived in Seattle with her mom for seven years. Sevita's mom feels that she can no longer provide the time and attention that Sevita requires to properly care for her. 

Sevita's wings are clipped. All of her vet care has been with Dr. Onorati, DVM - Des Moines Veterinary Hospital. Sevita's mom wishes to continue Sevita's care with Dr. Onorati. Sevita boards there frequently and is well bonded with his staff. 

Sevita has a distinct preference for women and has always been an only pet. Sevita comes with her cage, perch, and toys. Anyone wishing to adopt Sevita must have prior parrot experience. African Grey parrots are not starter pets. Understand also that African Grey parrots can live fifty years or more. If you live in the Seattle area and are interested in adopting Sevita, please read the Northwest Parrots Fund Adoption Procedures page, and contact Northwest Parrots Fund for screening.

Don't Break That Door!

Arua

Our first Congo African grey parrot was a crusty male rescue parrot named Corky who spoke little in the way of understandable English. However, one of his few phrases was: Don't Break That Door! He liked to slam his cage door shut, so he probably heard that quite abit in his short life. After Corky died from cardiac arrest in 2006, we acquired another Congo African grey. This one a female named Arua.

Arua Upside Down

Arua also likes to slam her cage door shut. However, she didn't say Don't Break That Door! So, as homage to our beloved Corky, we decided to train Arua to say: Don't Break That Door!

Arua easily picks up the words and phrases she wants to pick up. You Done Yet? I Want Apple! Watch Your Tail. I love YOU! Go poop. Come here missy. Tara, Tara, Tara, TARA! But year after year she refused to say Don't Break That Door! Even though we constantly repeated that phrase to her.

Recently, we heard a couple of garbled words that sounded strangely like Don't Break! Although at first it sounded more like What Break.

As we listened, and as Arua practiced the words, Don't Break became more and more apparent. Success! Now we just need to get her to complete the phrase.

Corky

We Nailed Cute

We Nailed Cute!

Or we should say: Our female Timneh African grey parrot Tillie nailed cute! Now fourteen years old, Tillie is in her second home. We suspect that much of this getting into things behavior of hers is nesting behavior. Tillie clearly prefers the male gender, and almost immediately bonded with the male member of the household. We try to be careful to not encourage her. We went through two episodes of egg laying with our female Blue and Gold macaw. Obviously this wouldn't be as much of a problem with a demure little Timneh African grey parrot. But still, we'd rather not.

Tillie loves getting into things.

Boxes. Shoes. It doesn't matter.

Training Your Parrot to Talk: Our Congo African Grey Arua

Our female Congo African grey parrot Arua is not normal. We say that as a compliment. Arua is intelligent. And she is multilingual. She is smart for a parrot, and she's smarter than many people we know! But surely most African grey parrot people say that about their African grey parrots.


Arua is a rescue parrot. She came to us speaking both Polish and English. Unfortunately she has pretty much dropped the Polish words and phrases, except for one: Apuka. We don't speak Polish, so no reason for her to continue speaking Polish to us. Except for that one word that she favors. Apparently apuka is Polish for a mischievous little elf. That Arua certainly is!


Arua lived with a Polish fellow in Spokane, Washington, across the state from us, for years and years, which is where she picked up speaking Polish. Sadly this fellow up and died one New Year's Eve several years ago. No one figured it out for three days until a friend of his living in the Seattle area alerted an acquaintance in the Spokane area that he wasn't answering her calls. She drove across the state, picked up the parrot and brought her back to her home in Edmonds, outside of Seattle. Not knowing what to do with a Polish-speaking African grey parrot, she posted the bird on Craigslist. Fortunately we were the first people to respond to the post!

We quickly learned that we had a very talented and very multilingual parrot on our hands! Not only did Arua speak Polish and English, but dog and cat, as well as several avian dialects. In no time at all she was speaking Chickadee as well as any Black-capped Chickadee in our back yard.

Early on Arua established that she could communicate her basic needs with us. We quickly figured out her word for food: Hot. She knew that water was Water. Whenever we made coffee she would pipe up: You Add Water? At some point she stopped calling food Hot and started calling it Apple instead. As she settled in, she got insistent: I Want Apple! Then she got demanding. If we didn't fix her meals fast enough to suit her, she demanded: You Done Yet? If she wanted seconds, she would blurt out: More Apple! When she got really impatient, she would climb down off of her cage, waddle into the kitchen, and park herself at our feet demanding: You Done Yet? Talk about working under pressure! Recently she started asking, usually after she finished her meal: Done Yet Add More? meaning she wanted to know if we still had more birdie meals to fix.

Once Arua got really settled into the household, she started bossing the macaws around. Whenever the Hyacinth macaw Princess Tara, or one of the Blue and Golds, Bubba or Aboo, acted up, she would scream out: Tara! Tara! TARA! Or: Bubba! With Aboo, she would demand: Stop It!

Arua quickly learned the names of all the other parrots, Tillie, our demure Timneh African grey, her favorite; Princess Tara, Bubba, Boo; Cracker, our Ruby macaw, and Roxanne (or Rox) our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot. We are pretty sure she knows the name of our Goffin's cockatoo Kid Kadra, but she absolutely refuses to say his name because she out and out hates that parrot!

Recently Arua demonstrated her linguistic abilities by saying her first Two Sentence phrase:

You Want More? That Was Good Apple!

This followed a particularly satisfying dinner of parrot mac and cheese. She knew we were sharing in the meal. She wasn't asking for more food for herself. She was letting us know it was okay to partake of more ourselves! Not only is Arua one bright parrot. She's also very polite!

Our Flock: Our Goffin's Cockatoo Kid Kadra

Our male Goffin's Cockatoo Kid Kadra craves attention. If he can't get it from the humans, he solicits attention from the other parrots, usually with unsatisfactory results:

Kid Kadra could easily be mistaken for one of the Three Stooges, we're guessing Larry. Here's an earlier video of Kid Kadra trying to turn a very small water dish into a tub:

What Kind of Parrot Behavior Are We Looking At Here?

Our female Congo African grey parrot Arua has recently engaged in some unusual activity, for her. We're guessing this activity is hormonal:

Do any of you parrot people have any thoughts about this behavior? Please let us know what you think, and we'll share your thoughts on this blog. Have you witnessed your parrots doing anything similar? If you have, is it an occasional occurrence, or frequently recurring?

Cage World and Commercial Parrot Abuse

Would you like to know how not to treat a parrot? Debbie from Mesa, Arizona's Cage World will show you, if you can bear to watch. Fair Warning: This video contains disturbing images, made even more disturbing because Cage World clearly believes these are appropriate methods to handle your parrots!

This archaic and outdated training methodology is known in the dog training world as Positive Punishment. In the parrot training world, we just call it Animal Abuse! Common decades ago, these training techniques are still employed by so-called parrot trainers from BirdTricks.com to Debbie here at Cage World. Every parrot person who believes in Positive Reinforcement should read respected parrot trainer Sid Price's scathing critique of BirdTricks and Positive Punishment.

Cage World is located at 2110 W. Southern # F, Mesa AZ 85202.

If you would like to share your displeasure of Cage World's outdated parrot training techniques, here is their phone number: 480-833-4001. Cage World's email address is: questions@cageworldaz.com. Cage World can also be found on Facebook.